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Democratic socialists in the United States point to
Sweden as a socialist success. But Swedish historian Johan Norberg
says, "Sweden is not socialist."

Norberg hosts a documentary called "Sweden: Lessons for
America?" in which he notes that in Sweden, "government doesn't own
the means of production. To see that you have to go to Venezuela or
Cuba or North Korea." John Stossel asks Norberg why so many
Americans think Sweden is Socialist. Norberg answers, "we did have
a period in the 1970s and 1980s when we had something that
resembled socialism: a big government that taxed and spent
heavily." But in his documentary, he explains that big government
led to problems: "our economy was in crisis, inflation reached 10%,
and for a brief period interest rates soared to 500 percent. At
that point the Swedish population just said, 'Enough, we can't do
this'" Norberg tells Stossel. Sweden cut public spending,
privatized the national rail network, abolished certain government
monopolies, eliminated inheritance taxes, sold state-owned
businesses, and switched to a school voucher system. They also
"lowered taxes and reformed the pension system," adds Norberg. So
Stossel asks why we keep hearing "that Sweden is this socialist
paradise." Norberg answers: "We do have a bigger welfare state than
the U.S. and higher taxes than the U.S. But in other areas, when it
comes to free markets, when it comes to competition, when it comes
to free trade, Sweden is actually more free market." He's right,
according to the Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Rankings.
Sweden ranks higher than the U.S. Norberg also tells Stossel that
Sweden's tax system may surprise Americans. "This is the dirty
little secret … We don't take from the rich and give to the poor.
We squeeze the poor, because rich people might leave." Even people
who earn below average income pay up to 60% in taxes. Stossel asks:
what lessons should Americans take from Sweden? "You can't turn
your backs [on] the creation of wealth," warns Norberg. "Sweden:
Lessons for America?" airs on PBS on October 29th at 7 p.m.
Eastern. You can also watch it at freetochoose.tv.

It’s been suggested that Americans would be better off
if the United States was more like Sweden. Do the Swedes know
something that we don’t? Sweden: Lessons for America? A Personal
Exploration by Johan Norberg delves into the economic and social
landscape of the Swedish scholar’s homeland. Join him to see that
the lessons to be learned from Sweden may not be the ones you
expect. The one-hour documentary follows Norberg on a journey
through the history of Sweden’s economic rise, from one of the
poorest countries in the world to one of the most prosperous. The
program illuminates key ideas and enterprises that sparked the
reform and continue to help Sweden maintain its lofty economic
position, including freedom of the press, free trade, new
technology companies, crazy jobs and even an old Swedish superhero.
Published on Sep 21, 2018.

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